Growth of new materials is the cornerstone of materials science - a highly inter-disciplinary field of science that touches every aspect of our lives from computers and cell phones to the clothes we wear. At the same time, ...

(Phys.org)—Magnetism may be one of the most fundamental concepts in physics, but under the surface, magnetism holds complex secrets that scientists are still trying to unravel. One of these areas involves the dynamics of ...

Now you see it, now you don't. A new device invented at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) can absorb 99.75% of infrared light that shines on it. When activated, it appears black to infrared cameras.

Japanese researchers have developed a manufacturing technology for highly uniform thin films of organic polymer semiconductors without material losses by applying the semiconductor solution on a highly hydrophobic surface ...

(Phys.org)—Research at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science's Advanced Photon Source (APS) provides new insights about a material that might form the basis for an alternative to conventional silicon-based semiconductor ...

Up to now, releasing components from molds has called for release agents. The problem is that the residues of these agents left behind must then be costly removed. Now, there is an alternative: a specially coated release ...

Thin film

Thin films are thin material layers ranging from fractions of a nanometre to several micrometres in thickness. Electronic semiconductor devices and optical coatings are the main applications benefiting from thin film construction.

Work is being done with ferromagnetic thin films for use as computer memory. It is also being applied to pharmaceuticals, via thin film drug delivery. Thin-films are used to produce thin-film batteries.

Ceramic thin films are in wide use. The relatively high hardness and inertness of ceramic materials make this type of thin coating of interest for protection of substrate materials against corrosion, oxidation and wear. In particular, the use of such coatings on cutting tools can extend the life of these items by several orders of magnitude.

Research is being done on a new class of thin film inorganic oxide materials, called amorphous heavy-metal cation multicomponent oxide, which could be used to make transparent transistors that are inexpensive, stable, and environmentally benign.